‘Double Decker’ Airline Seats Are A Game-Changer In Wake Of COVID-19
Image via Ko Aun Lee / Shutterstock.com
Zephyr Aerospace has introduced an innovative design that could change the way people travel during the coronavirus pandemic.
The company has designed a double-decker, lie-back seat—called the Zephyr Seat—to allow passengers to have greater privacy while observing social distancing in airplanes.
Passengers are imagined to be seated above and below, rather than aside, each other. To access the second level, a space-saving staircase attached to each section can be drawn out.
Designer Jeffrey O’Neill explained that airlines will not have to reduce their seating densities of two-four-two layouts. “We believe that new types of travelers will require privacy or will want to pay extra for that as much as they would pay for the ability to sleep,” O’Neill told CNN.
O’Neill explained that he had the idea for the plane design during a long-haul flight to Singapore, the then longest flight in the world. He noted that while he was on the “best-rated airline in the world,” he still recalled not being able to sleep on the flight. The inspiration came when he took a bus that had bunk beds on a trip to Argentina.
The double-decker seating fits in the second row of lie-flat seats where a standard airplane would typically allocate for overhead bins. “We basically retrofitted a whole other seat on top of another,” O’Neill added. “So it’s two levels, it’s not as tall off the ground as people might imagine, it’s only four and a half feet off the ground from the entry point to the lower seat to the upper seat.”
Therefore, an aircraft would not have to scale back on the number of seats while giving passengers more legroom. O’Nell has spoken to four airlines about the seating design, including Delta Airlines.
TELL US: Would you use this double-decker plane to fly economy? >> https://t.co/jOdrwBZvmh pic.twitter.com/j4l7h6SqyB
— KOLDNews (@KOLDNews) June 18, 2020
Zephyr Seat is democratizing comfort for everyone:
— Zephyr Seat (@zephyrseat) May 20, 2020
💺The First Lie-flat seat for Economy Class travelers
😷Social-distancing compliant seating module
✅ Patents filed for seat design and utility
🎥 As Seen on TV: Meet the Drapers, California by Design#airtravel #travel #safety pic.twitter.com/DhNVE2NCfd
Zephyr Seat featured on @CNNTravel: Is this double-decker seat the future of airplane travel?
— Zephyr Seat (@zephyrseat) June 17, 2020
Thanks @FL_Street @ddiroy https://t.co/XlMP5tSDxc#travel #SocialDistancing #Airlines @
[via 7News, opening image via Ko Aun Lee / Shutterstock.com]
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